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Marathon Power Cookies: not just for the runners

I’m off to Fargo this weekend to cheer on my two sons and one daughter-in-law as they run in the big Fargo Marathon. Both boys have done half-marathons, but this year Dan will do the full for the first time. Andy and Katie will run the full as part of a relay team.

I’ve got a bag of these Power Cookies packed and ready to go. Our runners may need an extra energy boost and their fans, including me, who will be there to cheer them on, will need a good snack.

This recipe was adapted from the recipe for Fruit-and-Nut Energy Bars that appeared in the June 2010 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

These cookies are so chewy and packed with lots of good stuff. They’ll be perfect this summer for me to pack into my bike bag as I pedal through some long rides. And, if you’re a hiker, be sure you have a couple of these in your backpack. As I wipe off my sticky fingers, I can tell you right now, these cookies are good for breakfast, too:)

(Added 5/20/10, 7:45 p.m.) Kristin Klinefelter, MS, RD, LD was kind enough to run a nutritional analysis on these cookies. Kristin, of Bemidji, says, "These look great…I will try them soon. This would be a good recovery food after a race or workout." You’ll find the results of Kristin’s analysis at the end of the recipe.

Marathon Power Cookies

1 cup organic old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup pecan halves, broken

1/2 cup roasted and salted cashews, broken

1/2 cup organic agave nectar

1/4 cup creamy organic peanut butter

5 Medjool dates, pitted, each cut into 6 pieces

1 tablespoon flax seeds

1 tablespoon orange- or lemon-infused olive oil

1 cup dried currants

1/2 cup shredded organic coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. In a food processor, pulse oatmeal, pecans, cashews, agave nectar, peanut butter, dates, flax seeds, olive oil. Add currants and coconut and pulse just until incorporated. The mixture should be blended together but still chunky.

Scrape the cookie dough into a large bowl and mix one final time with a wooden spoon. Using a 1/4 cup measure packed with dough for each cookie, form rounds about 3/4-inch thick on the prepared baking sheets. Keep them about an inch apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are browned around the edges. Let them cool completely on the baking sheets.

Store them in a tightly sealed container. They won’t last long, though. You will probably get 11 cookies from this recipe.